During his life, Teilhard de Chardin endured and witnessed a large amount of suffering from losing several siblings at a young age, to witnessing the physical suffering due to the carnage of World War I,to the mental anguish of having his visionary writings censored by his superiors.  And yet, Teilhard de Chardin is most known for his optimistic grand synthesis of traditional Christianity and modern science.

Recently, Yurii Ramos wrote an outstanding guest blogpost at The Teilhard Project quoting sum of Teilhard’s writings on suffering. I encourage you to read the entire blogpost here but set forth below is an excerpt:

“Suffering, although not a central theme in Teilhard de Chardin, is a very significant and effective one. It opens ones eyes toward one of the most beguiling of human mysteries. . . . Should those who suffer be jealous of those who are not suffering as they are? The obscure, the useless, the failures, should take joy in the superiority of the others whose triumph they lend support to or pay for.”

Read Entire Blogpost.